Quotes from Makoto Shinkai

I think it is really important to not only take advantage of these tools that you have at your disposal but also to really take the time to develop ideas within yourself and think about what you want to animate, and then you can use these tools to create what you want to create.

I was working in a gaming company, but I really wanted to make animation. I didn't really have anything special, no special tools at my disposal, so I used what I had on hand like Photoshop, and that's really how I started.

I don't think anybody can replace Mr. Miyazaki.

The first I paid to see with my own money was 'Laputa Castle In The Sky.' And I was like, wow! I really shocked by it. So I want to make movies that have a similar impact on the audience to that.

When we have a disaster in Japan, I wonder, how can we prevent our lives and traditions and history from the disaster?

When I was growing up and until I got married, I had some times when I felt a bit lonely and a little bit isolated - even after I got married.

Of course I'm happy when people mention his name and mine in the same breath. It's like a dream. But I know they are overpraising 'Your Name' because I am absolutely not at Miyazaki's level. Honestly, I really don't want Miyazaki to see it because he will see all its flaws.

'Your Name' is a film created with the innate imaginations of a Japanese team and put together in a domestic medium. When such a work is imbued with Hollywood filmmaking, we may see new possibilities that we had been completely unaware of - I am looking forward to the live-action film with excited anticipation.

When Ando arrives in the studio, he picks up his pen even before he gets a cup of tea, and he stays seated until the very last train at night. He hardly eats, just nibbles at little balls of rice at his desk.

You learn a lot more from stories about getting rejected than stories about becoming happy.

The identity of Studio Ghibli movies are how the characters move. They move like live, real people.

I think animation can tell more than live action.

I have never really sensed any of Miyazaki's artistic influence on Ando. If there is an influence, it's more in his attitude to his work.

There are loads of novels that I really love, like Haruki Murakami's books, and when I read them, I do think about how they would work as an anime. But I do believe that those are great books because they work best as novels, or great manga work best in that form.